FAIRFIELD -- The Trinity Catholic volleyball team had just seen a two-zip lead melt away and, even worse, it was less than an hour before the Crusaders had a 22-18 advantage in the third game as they closed in on sweep over Fairfield-Ludlowe.

Yet the sixth-seeded Trinity team was unable to close it out in the Falcons own gym. Were they down? Were they under pressure?

If the Crusaders were it never showed. After Ludlowe bounced back to win games three and four, the Crusaders still broke the huddle before the final game, laughing with big smiles on their faces, and proceeded to finish off the Falcons 17-15 for a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC tournament.

"The last match (in the regular season) went five games, so we were confident we could come out and win," said Trinity Catholic Eileen Ornousky, who started off the last game with an ace as Trinity grabbed an early 4-0 lead.

The momentum then swung back to Ludlowe as Ashley Curtis and Heather Wamser grabbed control of the net and put the Falcons back in front 6-4.

The game was a see-saw battle until it was tied at eight and then, Ludlow ran off three straight points to grab an 11-8 advantage.

Trinity, however, kept working and finally broke even with the Falcons on a block by Kelly Palma at 13-all.

Ludlowe went back in front and served for the match at 15-14, but they were not able to close it out, either. The Crusaders again pulled even at 15 then a deft tap over by Clare O'Leary set up match point for Trinity and Maddy Rooney cashed in with an ace.

There was an air of calmness around the team as the Crusaders warmed up. They had just beaten Stamford to win the city championship for the first time since 1994 and now, were playing in the FCIAC tournament for the first time in 11 years.

Trinity coach Craig Pucci, who has seen his team achieve all three of its goals for the season, said they knew there was still work to do.

"I think that (the goals) are equally important to us as a team," Pucci said. "Coming into the year, there are goals that we set out to achieve. The girls said the goals were to win the city championship, make the FCIACs and make the state tournament and really what we need to do is move forward. Winning here is a great accomplishment, but moving forward in the tournament is even bigger."

The Crusaders were not awed by the circumstance. The sixth-seeded Crusaders came into their game with the No. 3 seeded Falcons feeling they would be able to compete. The two teams played just last month with Ludlowe squeaking out a 3-2 win and that was a big factor in Trinity's confidence, according to Pucci.

"We knew coming in here that we weren't going to get dominated off the bat," he said. "We knew they were a tough team, but it was a team we could play with."

The Trinity players proved it was more than a gut feeling as they battled the Falcons and it took a total team effort by the Crusaders.

Cayleigh Griffin had 11 kills and Tina Boehn added 13 points and five kills. Kelly Palma had a great game at the net and was credited with eight points and eight kills along with Rooney chipping in 10 points. Not to be outdone Ornousky tallied eight points and six kills plus O'Leary had 25 assists.

In the opening game, the two teams traded point until they were tied at 13. Then, Ludlow went on a 5-2 scoring run to go out in front 18-15. Two Ludlow errors coupled with an ace by Ornousky brought the teams even again at 18.

After the Falcons grabbed a brief lead, the Crusaders stormed right back with Ornousky and Palma combining to put them in front 21-20. Trinity finished it out with Griffin winning the last two points for a 25-22 victory.

The second game followed the same script as Ludlow grabbed the early lead, but could not gain a comfortable distance in the score and Trinity kept rallying. Finally, the Crusaders tied the game at 18 and then went on a run of their own as Boehn served with Griffin providing the kills for a 22-18 advantage.

The Falcons fought back behind the play of Curtis at the net, but Trinity managed to hold off the rally and Griffin served out the second game with an ace at 25-23.

It looked as if the Crusaders would make a short night of it when the grabbed a 21-15 lead in the third game, but the Falcons would not go quietly. They won 10 of the next 12 points behind Amy Bethge and Marissa Mullen for a 25-23 win.

Ludlowe also controlled the fourth game easily with their power. Lia Malihi came off the bench and served well to give the Falcons an early 6-2 bulge. Curtis and Mullen took over from there as they punished the Crusaders behind Curtis and Mullen at the net. They finished game three off with a block by Mullen at 25-15.

Palma said even after letting the Falcons climb back into the match, the Crusaders' confidence did not waiver because they have been together so long.

She said their theme song -- "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey -- described their feelings going into the last game.

"In the third game, we did that last week too, we were a little too over confident," said Palma. "It definitely helps because we've been together so long and we just trust each other."

For Ludlowe it was a bitter loss. McCaffrey had 13 kills, 13 digs, nine service points and two aces and Curtis rang up 12 kills. They will have to wait for the CIAC tournament to begin and their coach Megan Skelton knows they have to do a turn around before that starts. She said it came down to errors.

"Our mental game, we had people not showing up to play and we made a lot of stupid plays," said Skelton. "We had two missed serves on game point in game five and you just do not do that. We had way too many unforced errors. We're so much better than that and to play like that is disheartening."

Those smiling Crusaders moved on to face Greenwich at Greenwich on Thursday in a semifinal matchup.

That match occured after The Stamford Times' deadline, but complete coverage of the match can be found online at www.thestamfordtimes.com.